Link: Swordsman of the Sand
by 17th Angel Tabris
Summary: From faraway, one Swordsman has come form his home to the land of suna to seek and destroy a major threat. But being a ninja takes a toll of the mind. Caught between an inner demon and a curse, he makes the choice between good and evil.
1. Chapter 1

Episode 1: The Swordsman of The Sand!  
I took the headband as the instructor siad, "Very well done Link. You took and passed the whole academy course in one week! I'm very impressed. Baki-sensei will show you to your squad. Baki-sesnaei opened the door and said, "Everyone, we have a new surprise squad member. His name is Link. He's come fromm a far-away land.

There were three people in the room. One had blond hair and had a huge fan on her back. one wore a black robe and had something wrapped in bandages on his back. The other had red hair, a tattoo on his forehead, and had a gourd on his back. The one with the robe asked, "So he's some kind of foreign exchange student?"

Baki blinked and said, "Yes, but you should give him more respect. I'll be right back." Baki then left and shut the door

The one in the robe stepped foward and said, "The name's Kankuro. That's Temari and that's Gaara."

"Hi."

I looked at Kankuro and said, "So I'm gessing Gaara doesn't talk much eh?"

Kankuro said, "Nope. Not if you knew him like me and Temari do. We're all siblings. Anyway, let's see how strong you are Link. Try to dodge this! YAAAH!" Before Kankuro could land the punch, I vanished.

Kankuro looked around and I said, "Don't let your opponent get behind you. Leaves you wide open."

Kankuro growled and said, "A wise guy huh? How about this! RAAAAAH!" This tine, he did an axe kick.

Once again, I was behind him and said, "Really. don't let your opponent get behind you all the time."

Kankuro said nothing and threw another punch. He then spun and kicked and said, "Now. What were you say...huh?"

He looked around again until I said, "Kankuro, you're just too easy." Kankuro looked up to see me on the ceiling.

Kankuro got real angry. He growled again and yelled, "Alright, that's it! Come on out Karasu! THe bandages on the thing on Kankuro's back unraveled to reveal a puppet. The puppet stood up and sproutet kunai knives. It then ran towards me. I gripped my sword and in one swift move, cut off the puppets arms. Kankuro then shouted, "Alright Karasu! Use the bomb!"

Temari stepped in and said, "Kankuro. Stop being so foolish! You're wasting chakra! And you shouldn't treat our new squadmate like this!"

Kankuro merely sid, "Don't interfere Temari! Alright Karasu! Do it!" Karasu opened it's chest and launched a bomb from it. I pulled out my shield and blocked the bomb. The explosion was huge. It spreaded through the room. Kankuro smiled and said, "That's that. What?" Kankuro looked in shock as I didn't have a scratch on me and said, "How? How could his shield be strong enough to block Karasu's bomb?"

I pulled out my sword and said, "Alright, this is boring. Time to end this." I ran towards Karasu and with one slash, cut the puppet in two.

Kankuro ran over to Karasu and said, "Karasu! Are you okay?"

Temari smiled and thought to herself, "Not bad. Link's pretty strong. And cute too."

Gaara stood in place and thought, "Interesting. He may not look like much, but he took out Karasu in just one blow. This Link guy is pretty strong. He's gonna be perfect for the exams."

Temari walked toward me and said, "Good job."

"Thanks."

"You're stronger than you look."

"Yeah. I'm pretty surprising. heh heh."

"Welcom to the squad Link."

"Thanks Temari."

Kankuro stood up and said, "Yeah, you're okay I guess. So anyway. Do you have a place to stay?"

I thought and said, "Actuaqlly, no I don't."

Temari smiled and said, "hen you can stay with us! We have a spare room you can use."

"Thanks." During the night, I got up from bed and looked through my bag thinking, "Okay. Bow. Check. Arrows. Check. Bombs. Check.  
Boomerang. Check. Picture of me and Zelda in front of the castle. How did this get in here? Anyway, masks. Check. Hookshot. Check. Ocarina. Hmmmmm." I took the ocarina, sat down on a stool and started playing.

Temari walked in and said, "Link. What's that?"

It's my ocarina. I was just playing it. Did I wake you?"

"No."

"Oh. That's good. do you kind if I play."

"Not at all." As I played, she thought and said, "You play very well."

"Yeah, well. I've had it for a while. I've grown kinda attatched to it. I never leave home without it."

"I see. Do you know what's coming up?"

"No."

"THe Chunin Exams. We go all the way to the leaf village and take the exam to determin if we advnce to a Chunin."

"Really."

Yeah. Ninjas from all the villages will be there."

"Hmmmmm."

"Do you think you're up to it?"

"...Yep!"

"Good. So am I. So are Kankuro and Gaara."

"Yeah. I wonder what the other ninjas will be like."

"Yeah. so do I."

"Yeah." As I played my ocarina with Temari beside me I began to think. Being a ninja is serious. I could die. I need to find the evil threatning Hyrule. The Chunin Exams. Sounds like a good place to start. I'll look during the exam. I can't wait for the exams themselves. I'm gonna take down anyone who faces me!


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2: New Opponents of the Chunin Exams!  
I woke up this morning, got ready, and went outside. Outside stood Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari. I smiled and we all headed to our next stop. The leaf village of Konoha. Where the Chunin Exams will be held. When we arrived, Kankuro said, "Alright. We'll split up and take a look around."

Me and Gaara went east while Kankuro and Temari went west. As we walked, I asked Gaara, "So. What's your deal? You always seem so quiet."

Gaara sighed and said, "It's a long story. I don't like to talk about it. So what about you? Do you have a family?"

I looked down and said, "No. I never knew my parents. I lived with my uncle. Then he died trying to protect Hyrule castle from a dark wizard."

Gaara paused and then said, "It's Kankuro. He's at it again. Follow me."

As we jumped through the trees, we stopped and saw Kankuro picking on some kids. I raised an eyebrow and said, "Kankuro's a bully?" Gaara just nodded and made a gesture telling me to stay quiet. In an instant, a rock flew and stopped Kankuro. We looked at the above branch and saw a kid with black hair, a blue shirt, and a leaf headband.

Gaara eyes went into focus and said, "Stay here." Gaara focused his chakra and was then standing on the underside of the branch.

After Gaara was finished giving a stern talk to Kankuro, I jumped down and said, "Wow Kankuro. Never you were a bully."

Kankuro frowned and said, "Stay out of this Link."

As we walked off, the black haired kid said, "Wait. What's your name? You two. With the gourd and sword.

Gaara turned and said, "I'm Gaara. Of the desert."

I then turned and said, "And I'm Link. Swordsman of the Sand."

The kid smiled and said, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. Of the Uchiha clan."

The kid next to Sasuke grinned and asked, "Hey. I bet you're just dying to know my name huh?"

Gaara closed his eyes and said, "Actually, I couldn't care less." I just laughed a little. When we arrived at the leaf academy, we saw a large crowd. I poked through the crowd and saw Sasuke, another genin, and some weird bowl-cut kid with huge eyebrows. I stepped in and said, "How's it going Sasuke? Getting into trouble?"

Sasuke looked and said, "Well we meet again Link. This punk was looking for trouble so I thought it was time he got what was coming to him."

As Sasuke left, another person stepped in. He had a white shirt and pure white eyes. He came up to me and said, "I don't know who you are, but you talk a big game for a rookie."

I glared at him and said, "You better watch your tongue there. It might cause trouble for you."

The kid smiled a little and said, "You've got spunk for a rookie. I like that. You seem like a true ninja. I'm Neji Hyuuga. What's your name?"

I smiled and said, "I'm Link. You look pretty strong to me. However, you're teammate with the eyebrows doesn't."

The eyebrow kid glared at me and said, "I'm a lot stronger than I look! My name is Rock Lee and I challenge you!" Lee rushed at me and tried to hit me with a roundhouse kick. I blocked it with my arm and pushed him back with a punch. Lee jumped into the air and commenced an axe kick. It knocked me back a little and he came at me again. I quickly formed a single handsign and knocked him back with a claw of sand.

I grabbed my sword, made a handsign with one hand and yelled, "Sand Wave!" I slashed my sword and a lash of sand struck Rock Lee. I sheathed my sword, made 7 handsigns and yelled, "Serpent, Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Serpent, Tiger! Fire style! Fireball Jutsu!" Lee crossed his arms and blocked the fireball. I looked in surprise and said, "Well. You're not half bad. We'll continue this later. I gotta go. See you later Neji. I look forward to facing you in the exams.

Neji smiled and said, "Yep. Me too. See you later Link."

I looked at Lee and said, "And you. You're pretty good. I look forward to facing you too." As I walked down the hallway I thought to myself, "So. The Chunin Exams. Sasuke, Neji, and Lee. If this is my competition, this will be fun. I am so up to it."


	3. Chapter 3

Episode 3: The Girl with a Crush on Gaara  
As we entered Room 301, I soon noticed all the ninja who have shown up. Kankuro's eyes widened. Temari smiled. Gaara stayed the same. I was completely bowled over. I also saw Sasuke, Neji, and Lee. The silence in my head broke when a girl entered the room and said, "Gaara! I've finally found you! It's been a long time." Gaara quickly turned his head the other way. When I saw her, she wore a purple/red battle kimono and had golden brown hair. She ran to Gaara and said, "Did you miss me? It's been a long time. Who's your new squadmate?"

I looked at her and said, "I'm Link. I'm new on Gaara's squad. Who are you?"

She turned around and said, "I'm Tarilia. Can I talk to you for a second?" She took me to a corner and said, "To be honest, I have a huge crush on Gaara. I just can't get him to notice me though. I just thought I should tell you."

I looked at Tarilia, then at Gaara, at Tarilia again, and then at Gaara again. I laughed a little and said, "Geez, don't you get it? This is Gaara you're talking about. Of course he won't notice you! To tell you the truth, I think he thinks you're an annoyance.

Tarilia growled and said, "How dare you say that! Gaara doesn't think I'm an annoyance! And to prove it, I challenge you!" Tarilia reached into a pouch and quickly threw a shuriken. I dodged it and sent a sand wave at her with my sword. She slid back wards, made a handsign and shouted, "Fire style! Fire Dragon Missile!" A strait stream of fire shot at me and sent me hurling back.

I sheathed my sword, made the handsigns and yelled, "Fire Style! Fire Dragon Flame Missile!" A stronger fire dragon shot at Tarilia. She hit the wall and started using Taijutsu techniques. I dodged some and got hit by some until I countered some and jumped into the air. I pulled out a kunai and hurled it at her. she dodged it, made a handsign and yelled, "Art of the Doppelganger!"

I looked around at all the clones and said, "So. Doppelgangers eh? A lot of them too. Think I'm in trouble."

All the clones stared me down and said, "You bet you are! Get ready!" They quickly made the handsigns and yelled out, "Fire style! Grand fireball jutsu!" All the clones breathed out fire which all collided to form one big fireball that engulfed the area.

When the flames cleared, I wasn't there. The kid who was with Sasuke before asked, "Whoa. What happened? He's gone! Did he just burn up?"

Sasuke stood his ground and said, "I don't know Naruto. But Link as skill. I saw him fight Rock Lee. He's tough."

As everyone stood wondering, I broke the silence and yelled, "Hey! Up here!" Everyone looked up to find me on the ceiling. I laughed and said, "The one place your fireball didn't hit. The ceiling. You're pretty good Tarilia. You're fun. But now it's time to end this! If I don't know which one is the real one, I'll just hafta hit all of you clones!" I quickly made the handsigns and yelled out, "Rat! Tiger! Dog! Ox! Hare! Tiger! Fire style! Napalm Spread Fire!" This time, unlike the other fire jutsus, this one spreaded in all directions. All the clones vanished and Tarilia was hit with the flames.

She fell to the ground and said, "I submit. You win."

As I walked back to the squad, as everyone cheered for the amazing fight, Temari said, "Great job Link!"

I smiled and went to talk to Gaara. As I talked to Gaara, Tarilia went over to Temari and said, "You like him don't you?"

Temari paused for a moment and said, "No! We're just friends!"

Tarilia smirked and said, "Okay, I'll bite. Sure you don't. I have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. Anyway, I've got something to tell you.When I hit him with my fire jutsus, I burned through some of his tunic. I saw markings on his back. I couldn't tell what they were for though. They looked like part of a seal. I just find it kind of suspicious. He might be hiding something from us."

Temari nodded and said, "Okay. I'll into it. Thanks for the info."

I leaned against the wall and thought, "Tarilia is pretty strong. Maybe there is hope between her and Gaara. I don't think Gaara thinks she's an annoyance anymore. After all, she's got some mad skills. Seeing everyone fight is getting me really pumped up for the exams."


End file.
